That Wasn't the Plan

by Jason Cheek

  As I watched the hulking, blue figures attack, I slowly realized the strange creatures must be water elementals. Their flowing bodies had a thin waist and no legs, but moved quickly by gliding over the rough terrain almost like a living wave. Its upper body had a thick, barrel-shaped chest with massive shoulders and long, rope-like arms that ended in massive fist, which it used to hammer the enemies before it like a brawler.

  That realization allowed me to identify the other stone-like creatures as rock elementals. Though, it took me a few moments to understand where they were coming from. Unlike the water elementals that started their attacks from the base of the defensive wall, these summons were being lobbed into the enemies’ ranks via catapult or something similar due to the short range. Even as I watched, I saw several players suddenly get crushed to death from the large rocks’ impacting the ground. A second later, the same rocks seemed to erupt from the ground. Within seconds, they had taken on a humanoid shape and began laying waste to all enemies that were near them.

  Although they were slow, the damage they put out had to be impressive to say the least. Picture random piles of rocks piled on top of each other with uneven arms and legs that had vaguely humanoid shapes. Each were between five to six feet tall and had protrusions sprouting out from their bodies at odd angles, which made them look like some postmodern artist’s nightmare come to life. Any players caught in range of their stone fists were quickly pummeled into submission.

  Even though there was over six hundred of both types of elementals assaulting the players under the defensive wall, they were nothing in comparison to the withering fire hammering at their massive bodies. In just a few minutes, all of the monsters were taken out. Weirdly enough, the elementals didn’t take any visible damage, nor did their attacks seem to weaken or reduce in power. After a certain amount of damage, their bodies just seemed to lose cohesion and disintegrate. It was almost as if the damage was interfering with the magic that made up their bodies.

  The creatures were impressive as hell. Even worse for the attackers, killing the elementals did little to stop the flow of elementals. Almost immediately upon their destruction, the defenders just created new elementals to take their place. It was like watching the attackers trying to stop an unending torrent of death flowing out of the fortress.

  Obviously, they’d succeeded against similar odds since, near the entrance of the funnel where the attackers had made their camp, there were the remains of two additional defensive walls that marked where the defenders had been overrun. As my eyes scanned further out, I saw even more ruined structures littering the valley below like dead corpses, evidence to the intensity of this losing battle and how hard Domenic and his people had fought throughout the siege.

  Looking at the widespread devastation made me appreciate the impressive feat they’d accomplished up until now. It almost made me feel sorry for making fun of Domenic the last few Sundays when he was going on about being overrun to the rest of our group. Just as a smile came to my lips at that thought, my attention was pulled away as Hefe’s strained voice called out behind me.

  “That’s some crazy ass shit!”

  Looking around, I was surprised to see the rest of the raid had caught up to us. Unlike Hefe and AJ who were standing behind us on the slope, the rest of the raid’s officers and my friends were lying next to us on the ridge.

  “And you expect us to jump into the middle of that cluster fuck!” AJ exclaimed incredulously. “You must be high!”

  “How about you guys get down along with the rest of us?” I said in annoyance, as I went back to watching the incredible scene below.

  “Really, dude,” Hefe countered exasperatedly. “I’m a gnome and AJ’s a dwarf. Who the fuck is going to see us standing up on the top of a ridge in the middle of the night?”

  “Anyone who’s been assigned to watch the pass,” Thomas said in a deadpan tone, without bothering to look behind him.

  “That’s how we usually found the militants who were trying to snipe us in the sandpit,” Kenzie explained, her voice filled with obvious disdain. “It’s amazing how easily a human form can show up on top of a ridge with the moon behind their back.”

  “Really, guys?” Jill exclaimed, glaring at them both. “You didn’t even stop to wonder why the rest of us were peeking over the rim?”

  “Whatever,” AJ grudgingly said, as he got down on his belly like everyone else as Hefe silently followed suit. “Like you knew better.”

  “At least, I had enough sense to ask the question in the first place,” Jill snapped, before turning back around to watch the action below while I stifled the smile that tried to come to my lips.

  Not that I disagreed with either Kenzie’s or Jill’s comments. The shit storm below was bad. I mean, like really … really bad. There had to be something like four to five thousand players trying to assault Domenic’s fortress. Now that we couldn’t de-level anyone, how in the hell were we supposed to pull his ass out of this mess? I wondered, as I studied the scene below.

  Pulling up my map, I compared the valley to what I could see on the map in the hopes that the plan I’d been formulating was still valid. There might be some sort of path along the coast, but from here it looked like impassible mountains. There was the pass we’d just come through, which was now basically closed off. Another that looked to go directly north into the Orc and troll infested mountains. And, one other that went southeast to Palnisdale.

  So, how could we make this work to our advantage? I silently wondered, as I closed the map and studied the general flow of the battle. Several thoughts came to mind, but what I really needed to do was find out all the options we had available, before making any kind of decisions. Then, I’d have to see what I could pull out of my ass this time around.

  “Alrighty then,” I said, mentally pinging my girls. “We need to get our scouts in position and see if we can get out of this pass without being discovered.” Without a word between us, Helgath leaped onto Neysa’s back as the Silver Dire Wolf shot up over the ridge and plunged down the slope below. More than one person looked over at me in surprise as I caught Dmitry’s eye. “Can you send your wolves down with my Silver Dire Wolf to stop any sentries at the base of the pass from slipping away?”

  “Is how you Americans say, sounds like plan,” Dmitry said, as he caught his combat pet’s eyes. With a thought, the entire wolf pack that had been hanging out behind the ridge sprang to their paws and took off after Neysa. I figured the pack of wolves wouldn’t trigger any alarms if the sentinels caught sight of them.

  “Thanks, Dmitry,” I said, as I mentally called Tengsly to me. Climbing up out of the hood of my cloak, the gray flying squirrel took off to hover before my eyes. Picturing my friend’s name and that he was a Dark Elf, I sent him my message and wished him luck. With a happy chitter, Tengsly took off into the night’s sky while I slid back down to the backside of the ridge and stood up.

  “The rest of us are going to have to get down that slope as quickly as possible,” I said in no uncertain terms, as I slide my shield off my back. “And take out any enemies lying in wait, before they can give the alarm.”

  “What do you mean?” Sarka asked, with an annoyed look on her face. “You want us to slide down on our asses?”

  “That would work better for some of us more than others,” Kenzie said, critically eyeing Sarka’s bubble butt as Krystal and Jill choked back a laugh.

  Seeing Sarka catch my eye as if to say “What the fuck is up with that, Jay?” I gave her a wordless shrug unsure myself as to what was going on with Kenzie. It was almost like Kenzie and Jill had both synched up with each other and had taken on the other’s unique style of bitchiness. Before either one of us could respond back to Kenzie’s rude comment, we received support from an unexpected source.

  “At least, she has an ass,” Unalia chimed in without hesitation, as several “Burn!” comments came from the rest of the Devil Dogs standing nearby. Before Kenzie could respond back, Angie spoke up while deep in th
ought.

  “Our fighting forms are pretty decent for four-legged travel,” Angie said, ignoring Kenzie’s comments as she changed to her Werebear form in seconds. Getting down on all fours, she tested the movement as she continued in a much deeper voice. “If the wolves can do it, we can too.”

  “Da,” Dmitry said in agreement. “Is big slope with rocks on either side. We slide down no problem.”

  “The going down is not what I’m worried about,” Sarka unhappily muttered at the Russian. “It’s the stopping that has me concerned.”

  “What do you think, warriors first?” Thomas asked, as he followed my example with his own shield.

  “I don’t see any other way,” I agreed, as I looked around the circle. “Any other warriors with shields that want to volunteer for this operation?”

  “We’ll come,” the Cobra Kai twins said, after a quick glance at each other.

  “Count us in,” Ivan said, as he stepped forward with two other tanks.

  “Me too,” Toxi, the Aussie Half-Orc Barbarian from earlier, said, as he nervously stepped forward.

  “We’ll head down too,” Bonnie Smash said, with Hefe and AJ at her side. Seeing my dubious look, Hefe gave me a shrug.

  “Eh, you only live once.”

  “Dude, this is a video game with automatic respawns,” I said, as my voice went up an octave. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”

  “Technical details,” Hefe said, with an unconcerned tone as I rolled my eyes.

  “Are you going to talk us to death or are we going to get this party started,” AJ said, while doing a little dance with his hips and singing. “Bow chicka wow wow.”

  For a second, all conversation around the circle stopped as everyone looked at the dwarf like he’d grown two heads. Even Krystal and Jill covered their eyes in embarrassment as Hefe and I joined them shaking our heads. It was an old school Red vs Blue thing our group used to do, which was funnier than hell when we weren’t around new people. Warning AJ with a finger, I went back to the conversation as if nothing had happened, while ignoring Sarka’s and Unalia’s questioning looks.

  “Okay, that should give us a total of twelve players down the hill first with thirty-eight druids hopefully right behind us.” I said, as I looked around the circle at everyone. “While the rest of you make your way down after us as quickly as possible.”

  “Yun, Tinyr, Unalia, Phoenix, my companions, Fylreh, and the Devil Dogs will follow next,” I said, catching Krishna’s eyes. “The Uten Syn guardians will go next, after them the Russians, Aussies, and then Assault Leader Dell with the main force.”

  “Why did you put us last?” Steph unhappily complained, as I took a breath.

  “Because it makes the most sense?” I asked with a frown. Taking a deep breath, I tried to assuage the panda-girl’s concerns. “Look, this isn’t personal. It’s just the best way for us to head down as I see it. We have the volunteers going first, the quickest combat forces following after, a shit-ton of healers next, a mass of range support, and then a mixed group of melee, ranged, and healers, before the main combat group. Do you have a better order we should be heading down in?”

  “Naw, it’s good,” Steph said, suddenly embarrassed. “I just don’t like not being able to head down first after my man.” She said, looking sheepishly at the Half-Orc barbarian.

  “Then join my friends,” I said, trying to keep the exasperation out of my voice as I nodded towards Yun, Tinyr, and Unalia.

  “I think I will,” she said, with a happy lilt to her voice as she stepped over next to Sarka and Unalia.

  “Okay, any other questions?” I asked, looking once again around the circle.

  “Lord Ironwolf,” Assault Leader Dell said, as he stepped forward to be noticed. “What happens if we’re discovered during our decent? What are your orders then?”

  “Ugh!” I groaned at the veteran swordsman’s question as everyone’s eyes turned to me questioningly. Unfortunately, Assault Leader Dell had a very good point. In fact, it was the only possibility that I hadn’t covered in my quick rundown of the strategy. A glance at Thomas let me know he’d been thinking the same thing. No surprise there since he was probably traditionally trained in battle tactics as an officer.

  It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about the possibility beforehand. As to why I hadn’t brought it up was exactly the opposite reason. This was my number one concern ever since our retreat back through the pass had been cut off. Rubbing the back of my neck, I gave everyone a weak smile.

  “Then we’re basically fucked,” I said, with a shrug. “The only thing I can see us doing is falling back towards Palnisdale and coming up with another plan. It just depends upon what our enemy decides to do after that.”

  “I figure they’ll chase us down with the majority of their forces, or ignore us and concentrate on taking Domenic out of the equation, or divide their forces enough to still keep Domenic locked in place while the rest of their forces wear our troopers down enough to turn the tables against us.” My gaze briefly met everyone’s eyes around me as I let my words sink in, before continuing.

  “If that happens, we’ll hold the line until we can get everyone’s zombie pets raised up and then make our way over to the Palnisdale pass.”

  “You know there’s no way Julie is going to let you escape after what you did to her and her people in Telrain,” Phoenix said in no uncertain terms, as the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah, I expect she’s out for blood now,” I agreed, with a tired grin. The crazed look in her eyes when she’d realized I’d basically made her nuke herself had promised all kinds of retribution. While I really hadn’t expected anything less after everything she’d done so far against me and my friends, I just hoped she wouldn’t try coming after me again outside the game. It wouldn’t be the first time the crazy bitch had messed with my truck.

  It would probably be worth the investment of setting up a security camera from my apartment to keep an eye on both vehicles. While it would be annoying as hell if she keyed my new paint job, the motorcycle was another story altogether. Messing with my brakes, chain, or any of the bolts that secured my tires could kill me. With those thoughts in mind, I made a mental note to ask Hefe if he’d let slip where I was living now. My contemplation was interrupted when Sarka spoke up.

  “If she’s that hot to take you out,” Sarka said, with a glint in her eyes. “We could probably have a small group silently break away and circle back around to help your friend out while the rest of us led the main group away.

  “Actually, that’s a pretty good idea,” I said nodding thoughtfully. It actually fit with the vague plan that I’d been silently putting together in my head. Although, depending on how many players were left behind, I didn’t see it working out either way if we were attacked ahead of time. With that in mind, I turned to Dangas and Dmitry. “If it comes to that, do you guys mind taking the lead on that?”

  “Da, should work,” Dmitry said, with a thoughtful nod as Dangas glanced over at his officers before answering.

  “No worries, if you can let your mate know we’re coming, we should be able to work something out,” Dangas agreed, as I gave both men a nod of thanks.

  “Then let’s get this show on the road,” I said, switching to raid chat. “Okay everyone, the plan is for all of us to get over the ridge and down the other side of the pass as quickly as possible without being seen by the enemy.” My eyes swept the players and people of The World standing below me on the pass as my friends, each groups’ guild leader, and their officers came to stand beside me.

  “Your leaders will let you know the order of decent. If things get ugly, we have several fallback plans in place so make sure you listen to the orders being given.” I couldn’t help the grin that came to my lips. “Until then, good luck and good hunting.”

  My friends and the Aussies laughed at the cliché quote that had been repeated in so many war movies, while the Devil Dogs and the Russians nodded as if the words had been
expected. Maybe those words weren’t just what they said in movies as the vets began to prepare their gear. Surprisingly enough, the words had a much deeper effect on the Uten Syn members and the people of The World. You could see how the words had made them stand prouder while they readied themselves to move out.

  Turning back towards the top of the hill, I began preparing myself for the slide down the mountain. Most that was making sure my weapons were securely strapped into place and that my buffs were fresh. Around me, the entire raid was doing the same thing as the top of the pass lit up with rainbow colors. As the warriors began getting into position beside me, I was surprised to see Neristhana step up to me expectantly.

  “What’s up?” I asked, as she began making sure her gear was strapped down.

  “Where do you want me?” Neristhana said, in a no-nonsense manner.

  “With the rest of my companions?” I replied, somewhat confused as she gave me a look that said I was an idiot.

  “As I told you earlier, I’m your guardian and you’re not going to leave me behind anymore,” Neristhana stated in no uncertain terms. Finished with going over her gear, she crossed her arms and straightened to her four and a half foot height, clearly stating she wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Where do you want me?”

  I frowned at the snickers coming from my friends who were getting prepared to move out beside me. While it sounded ridiculous to have a gnomeling acting as if they were my bodyguard on one level, Neristhana’s abilities weren’t anything to laugh at. She was upholding the honor of what she thought was her job as my companion. Besides that, one look at her almond-brown eyes told you she wasn’t backing down from this argument.